The 17th Texas Cavalry organized in late February or early March, 1862 from Counties in East Texas. Judge George Franklin Moore of Houston County was selected as the regimental commander. The men thereafter referred to the regiment as “Moore’s Cavalry”. In their initial organization, their strength was 1,000 strong. Once organized, they soon left Texas. The need for units was great with the war underway so they left Texas with little to no training. Some sources claim that they were ordered to Corinth, Mississippi, yet the records and documentation show that the unit travelled straight to Arkansas in the aftermath of the defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge.

When the regiment reached Arkansas, they were brigaded with five other Texas cavalry regiments (10th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th) under General Albert Rust. (Albert Rust had been a US Representative from Arkansas prior to the war). Several months later, in July of 1862, the 18th, along with the 15th, 16th, and 17th Texas Cavalries, were removed from Rust's command and ordered to a location in Arkansas known as “Camp Texas”, where they were reorganized as “dismounted cavalry”. The term ‘dismounted cavalry’ was preferred over the designation of ‘infantry’, although they were treated as an infantry unit.

The decision was partly based on the summer of 1862 in Arkansas being unusually hot and dry. The harsh conditions were straining the horses. Besides problems with water, there was also a shortage of food for the horses. These conditions were hard on both the horses and the men, causing both to deteriorate. The decision was made to send what remained of the horses home. This decision was disliked, since many of the men considered themselves horsemen. The loss of horses also represented the loss of a major diversion for the men in the form of horse racing.

 It was at this time that some of the younger men and older men were also discharged from the regiment. The men discharged from the regiment returned to Texas with the horses that remained. To make matters worse, their commander (George Franklin Moore) resigned from the unit to serve as a Texas Supreme Court Justice.  He continued in that position until relived by occupational Federal authorities in 1867.

In late July, the four Cavalry regiments were brigaded with the 10th Texas Infantry. The new brigade was ordered to Camp Crystal Hill, just north of Little Rock, Arkansas. At this time, they were commanded by Colonel Middleton Tate Johnson of Texas (after whom the city of Johnson’s Station, was named. The city name of Johnson’s Station was later changed to Arlington). The new brigade was known as “Johnson’s Brigade”. A few weeks later they moved again, to Camp Hope near Austin, Arkansas due to their being an adequate water supply found at that location. Although the dry spell ended in the fall, the condition of the troops was weakened. In their weakened condition, many died of disease, primarily pneumonia.

This regiment was exposed to diseases. The damp weather and surrounding caves was an environment that Texans were not accustomed to. Their weakened state combined rains, environment and accompanying cold soon led to the development of diseases. Such diseases affected many Texas regiments. These diseases took their toll on the regiment. In the late summer and fall of 1862 the regiment was beset with outbreaks of measles, typhoid and dysentery.

During that time, the Yankee invaders had penetrated into Arkansas. The Texas troops were assigned to positions that would hold the line in Arkansas. The 17^th Texas was assigned to the second corps, which had the responsibility to hold a fort on the Arkansas River about 35 miles from the State Capitol at Little Rock.

On January 10-11, 1863, their mettle was tested at an earthen fort known as Arkansas Post (also known as Fort Hindman), when a Union army commanded by Major General John McClernand launched an attack on the position. The attack of 30,000 troops was led by William T. Sherman. After an initial naval bombardment, the Union army surrounded the position and launched a land assault. Confederate General Thomas Churchill was given order to hold his position. Churchill and the men under his command held firm and beat back the assault. After the assault was repulsed, there was a lull in the fighting. During that time a young private in the 24^th Texas began waving a white flag stating that the general ordered the men to surrender, even though he had not. In the confusion about where the order had come from and whether or not it was ‘for real’, the Yankees launched another attack, which combined with the confusion, led to small white flags being raised in sequence down the lines.

The raising of that flag is still a matter of debate among historians. The 17th Texas was part of a contingent of 3,000 Confederate troops defending the fort, although some members of the regiment managed escaping the surrender. When the smoke cleared, the 17th Texas Cavalry were among the nine Texas regiments captured on January 11, 1863.

In the episode at Arkansas Post most of the regiment’s men were taken POW. The long journey to the POW camp was harsh. The prisoner travelled by river and overland to the camps. The exposure to the elements took further toll on the health of the men. The men in the regiment were separated out. Enlisted men were taken to either Camp Butler or Camp Douglas. The officers were taken to Camp Chase. A majority of the men taken to the camps returned to the South via a prisoner exchange in April of that year.

A month later, in late May, the depleted ranks of the 17th, 18th, 24th and 25th Texas Cavalry regiments were consolidated into one unit. The men disliked that decisions, yet complied with the order. The unit was sent to Tullahoma, Tennessee, where the Army of Tennessee was stationed at that time. The new unit was assigned to General Patrick Cleburne's division. The men felt shamed by their being surrendered at Arkansas Post and were eager to ‘redeem’ themselves. Cleburne was the only commander willing to take them in due to the stigma of the Arkansas Post surrender. Many units initially refused serving with them due to the shame of their surrender. They were brigaded together in a regiment known as “Smith’s Brigade” where they fought at Chickamauga. The brigade was commanded by Brigadier General Preston Smith. In the battle, they held their position against a strong Union attack. Despite being outnumbered 14 to 1, they firmly held their ground. At Chickamauga the combined 17^th, 18^th,24^th, 25th suffered 200 casualties. Their courageous stand began removing the stain of surrender.

In November of that year, Texan Colonel Hiram Granbury of the 7^th Texas Infantry was given command of the Brigade, due to General Preston Smith being mortally wounded in the fighting during a night time attack.

When the Army of Tennessee pulled back from Missionary Ridge, it was Cleburne's division, including Granbury's brigade, which probably saved the army by its rearguard stand at Ringgold Gap. At Ringgold Gap the regiment faced three to one odds. They held their defensive positions against Yankee attacks from six divisions. When they ran out of ammunition, the men resorted to throwing rocks at their attackers. Large boulders were rolled down on their assailants along with artillery shells containing timed fuses. The fighting was often fierce with hand-to-hand combat and fighting with bayonets. The efforts paid off, by holding back two charges against their position. The fighting was intense, for which the brigade received the thanks of the Confederate Congress.

With the battle, Granbury proved himself to the task and was soon promoted to Brigadier General. He was given command of the Texas Brigade. In some of his first acts, he worked toward reversing the consolidation that had had been ordered a year earlier The 17^th and 18th Texas Cavalry regiments were too depleted to constitute their own regiments. In a compromise, the decision was made to combine the two regiments into one. By December 1863, the regiment totaled 690 men and 520 arms. Despite the small numbers, the men continued fighting.

The brigade Continued fighting through northeastern Georgia in an effort to slow the invasion of the Union armies. The army was led by a new commander who wanted all the regiments to use the same flag design. Patrick Cleburne protested the decision, insisting that his men had earned the right to continue using the unique design they fought under. The unique design consisted of a white circle (moon) in the center of a blue flag. The new commander of the army allowed them to keep their flag.

The regiment fought in many battles taking place along the rail lines leading through the hills from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Besides the battles, the regiment participated in countless skirmishes. They were at the battles of Resaca, New Hope Church, Kennesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, and Jonesboro.

The Battle of New Hope Church was particularly intense and the fighting extremely heavy. The battle began in the afternoon with a Federal attack. The attack was the first of three assaults on the position held by Ganbury's brigade. Each of the assaults was repulsed with losses. Intense fighting lasted well into the night. In the darkness, General Cleburne ordered Granbury to clear the ground in front of him of the enemy at about ten o'clock that evening. Granbury responded by ordering his men to make a night bayonet charge, where they captured 242 Federal soldiers.

General Patrick Cleburne's official report on the Battle of New Hope Church stated "The piles of dead on this front was but a silent eulogy upon Granbury and his noble Texans."

At Kennesaw Mountain, the unit was part of the stubborn defense at the “Dead Angle”. The Confederate line stuck out at an angle, which earned the position its name. The 17^th Texas Cavalry was part of a defensive line, that repelled several attacks, where 3000 men died trying to dislodge them during a 45 minute period. The fighting and the environment were intense as men battled hand-to-hand in 110 degree temperatures in the Read Georgia clay country. One observer noted that there were more dead soldiers lying in front of the ‘dead angle’ than there were facing General Jackson at the celebrated ‘Battle of New Orleans’.

One of those attacking the position said, "Every mountain and hill, in front and far away to the right, fairly bristled with artillery and swarmed with Rebels. Never before had we seen so many Rebels at one time." The defenders were under a constant barrage and fire, with little time to remove the wounded and killed. One of the survivors said “...A solid line of fire right from the muzzles of the Yankee guns, the hot blood of our dead and wounded spurting on us, the blinding smoke and stifling atmosphere filling our eyes and mouths...afterward, I heard a soldier saying that he thought 'Hell had broke loose in Georgia, sure enough'."

During the Atlanta Campaign, Granbury's Brigade (including the combined 17^th/18^th Regiment) engaged in some of the hardest fighting of the war. On July 22, 1864 at the Battle of Atlanta, while fighting in the Confederate front lines, the regiment found itself without regimental commanders, due to them being killed, wounded or captured. At that time, Captain Manion, assumed leadership of the regiment. He assembled the men and ordered them to charge with 160 men which included the regiment’s cooks. The charge was successful in capturing the rifle pits constructed by the Yankees the day before.

The advance had not been supported and they became cut-off from Confederate lines. While in this position they were nearly surrounded. The men of the 15^th Michigan charged their position while they were without support. In order to extricate themselves out of this predicament many of the members of the regiment ended up surrendering due to the action of an officer. Many of the enlisted men ended up running away from their captors rather than return to the POW camp.

After a brief hand-to-hand struggle, the battle flag was taken by General William T. Clark and the 15^th Michigan regiment. Many of the 17^th and 18th were captured at Atlanta, and their Hardee-pattern battle flag was held by the survivors of the capturing Michigan regiment until returned to the state of Texas in 1914. It is now in the collection of the State Archives in Austin. It is considered one of the finest examples of a Hardee pattern flag in existence. Few if any of the men captured at Atlanta would be exchanged. Despite the capture of the flag, the regiment’s counter-attack sealed the Confederate lines and stopped the Union assault.

Despite the loss of their regimental flag, the regiment remained intact and wanted to redeem itself from having lost its flag. In the next major battle, Sherman attempted encircling the city of Atlanta. In a massive attack known as the Battle of Jonesboro, he managed to pierce a hole in the Confederate lines. The regiment’s counter-attack at the Battle of Jonesboro in August sealed the Confederate lines and stopped the Union assault. Their brave stand allowed the Confederate forces time to withdraw from the city of Atlanta to Lovejoy Station and save the Army of Tennessee. One of those who survived the charge of the Texans described it this way,

“ On came the Texans; but they were met by a continuous volley of musketry and shrapnel, shell and canister form our six-rifled Rodman’s and Cooper’s howitzers. It seemed as if no man of all the host who were attacking us could escape alive; and yet, still yelling, they persisted in their desperate undertaking. Their line was re-formed again and again they attempted the impossible to drive the third Division from the line it had decided to hold.”

Although the regimental flag had been captured, the remaining members of the regiment did not give up their fighting spirit. They continued fighting with the Army of Tennessee under the leadership of General John Bell Hood. Hood took the army on a campaign into Tennessee. What remained of the regiment was decimated in the Battle of Franklin, where General Hiram Granbury died leading his Texans into battle. In their last valiant charge, 1100 men charged forward, yet only 400 survived the onslaught of the attack which involved crossing two miles of open terrain exposed to fire from Yankees in fortified positions. The men that survived made their way back to rejoin the Army of Tennessee in North Carolina, where they officially surrendered on April 26, 1865. Some of the unit made it Alabama where they surrendered.